HCCC could appoint interim president, officer in charge next week

Thursday

Dec 12, 2013 at 1:10 PM

Herkimer County Community College Board of Trustees may appoint an interim president or officer in charge next week.The board will host a special meeting in the Robert McLaughlin College Center room 282/283 on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 6:30 p.m. and will entertain a handful of searching firms as well as potentially appoint someone to fill in for current President Ann Marie Murray, who is retiring Jan. 31.

Herkimer County Community College Board of Trustees may appoint an interim president or officer in charge next week.

The board will host a special meeting in the Robert McLaughlin College Center room 282/283 on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 6:30 p.m. and will entertain a handful of searching firms as well as potentially appoint someone to fill in for current President Ann Marie Murray, who is retiring Jan. 31.

Board member Kurt Ackerman, who is the county legislature representative on the board, said that there are several searching firms that they're looking at, but at the last meeting they had determined solid figures were needed to move forward.

"I would assume they'd be in charge of all the ads and have a pool of candidates," he said.

College board Vice-chairwoman Isabella Crandall said the board will decide whether they'll go with a firm or form a search committee within the college.

"We haven't really decided yet whether it will be internally or an external search," she said. "We're still considering both options."

"They would start the search and it would not be just in our area," Crandall added. "It would be a widespread search, across the country actually."

The cost of an external search firm could range between $30,000 and $50,000, she said.

With consideration to the firms, Crandall said they're looking at how long the average timeframe for finding a candidate is as well as their success rates.

Crandall said the board must take their time with this process since it's the most important job tasked to the group.

"As a board we don't want to rush and make quick decisions and choices," she said. "We want to make sure we do our research and we do it well and make good choices."

As for the when a candidate will be selected for the permanent position as college president?

"We would like to have someone no later than the beginning of the fall semester," Ackerman said.